Master Planning of Zoos - Central Zoo Authority

Technical Session III
Maintenance of zoo animals in good health is one of the important and difficult
tasks in any zoo.
Daunting Task:
l Detection of illness
l Diagnosis
l Handling and restraint
l Treatment and post-operative management once they fall sick
l Inadequate knowledge about the biology of a wide variety of Wild Animals
exhibited in zoos may heighten their Health/Disease/Mortality problems.
l Therapeutic approach of sick zoo animals may not always yield the desired
results.
l At times the new emerging animal health problems in a zoo kept ahead of our
ability to control or eliminate the existing diseases / mortality.
l Scope of animal health measures in a zoo covers the entire period from the
entry of the animal into the zoo till its final disposition.
• Health and mortality of zoo animals are directly or indirectly influenced by:
* Housing * Feeding * Sanitation * Routine day to day management
* Disease control measures
• Inadequate and improper implementation of these practices adversely affect
the health of zoo animals resulting in sickness or death.
Housing
• Adequate natural habitat simulating living space as per the need of the species
under display for free movement and exercise with provision for protecting
them from adverse climatic fluctuations is one of the basic needs for the
welfare of zoo animals.
• Quality and type of living space may vary from species to species. For
designing the enclosure, the zoo animals can be broadly divided into four
main groups:
Animal that lives above the ground (flying or climbing on trees, rocks
etc.) e.g. monkeys, bears, birds, etc.
Animal that lives on the ground (walking, hopping, crawling etc.) e.g.
deer, antelopes etc.
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